J.Kaye put out an S.O.S. for someone to run this challenge for 2009. I nuttily volunteered. Mostly because I agreed with the spirit of the challenge. I spend way too much on books. Authors, publishers, and retailers probably love me for it, but my budget needs some control. Ok, LOTS of control. And since I now wield (& use!) a library card, I can try to put some parameters around buying books.

So, without further ado, here's my rules for the 2009 Ban on Spending Challenge:

List all the books on your TBR list. Every single one.

No purchasing books for yourself until all the books listed are gone. No purchasing books for other people with the intention of reading them after they are finished. Library or other borrowed books can’t be listed.

Any books won in a raffle or given to you as a gift will be added to this list.

Books to be reviewed for promo companies, other blogs, authors, etc. do not count and are not added to this list.

Challenge runs January 1st to December 31st, 2009. Start anytime and list as many or as few books as you have. Once all books are checked off from the list, the ban is lifted and the spending can begin again.

If you don't have a ton of books to list, but would still like to participate in the spirit of the challenge, you may elect to participate in a period of "abstinence" ~ e.g. no buying from January through April. Make sure to state your intent & the period of time you're abstaining for.

I MAY have a prize at the end of the year, I'll have to think of the qualifications (most books waded thru? longest wait? random?).

If you don't have a blog and would like to still join, list your books in the comment section below.

Any questions? Post a comment, & I'll figure it out. =)

Have FUN!

I think if I can do this well, I might be able to save enough for a Kindle... That's a HUGE incentive for me! =) My list.

Read a minimum of 9 books first published in 2009. You don’t have to buy these. Library books, unabridged audios, or ARCs are all acceptable. To qualify as being first published in 2009, it must be the first time that the book is published in your own country. For example, if a book was published in Australia, England, or Canada in 2008, and then published in the USA in 2009, it counts (if you live in the USA). Newly published trade paperbacks and mass market paperbacks do not count if there has been a hardcover/trade published before 2009. Any questions on what qualifies? Just leave a comment at the host site.

No children’s/YA titles allowed, since we’re at the ‘pub.'

At least 5 titles must be fiction.

Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.

You can add your titles as you go, and they may be changed at any time.

First, I'd like to thank J.Kaye for getting me "hooked" on challenges. Really, she twisted my arm & all that... =P Anyway, I saw this on J.Kaye's Book Blog, and thought "why not?" I love reading series anyway, so this one could be right up my alley!

This challenge is hosted by Crazy Cozy Murders, and runs from December 1, 2008 to November 30, 2009. Challenge rules:

Pick a couple of series you've already started and you now want to finish (meaning, you'll be all up to date with the series when the challenge ends).

Read at least 4 books. More are okay!

Post your review of the books on your blog or in the comments section, no matter how long. If you post a review on your blog, please post a link to the review in the comment section so everyone else can check out your review.

I picked up Lean Mean Thirteen from the library the other day, for a quick read... After starting the first few pages, I decided that I wanted to start from the beginning. I know that the Plum books can be read as stand-alones, but why do that when there's a whole slew of 'em out there? So, I now have books number 1 thru 5 on hold at the library. If I wait till next Wednesday to pick 'em up, I'm sure I can hold off on reading them till January 1st! =)

So sometime in January, look for a "compilation" review of all the Plum novels!

If you missed Bitten by Books' ARC giveaway, here's another chance. Amberkatze's Book Blog has an interview with author Jeaniene Frost, along with a giveaway of her new book, At Grave's End. These are not ARCs. Go here for rules & to enter. Contest ends on 12/28/2008.

Do you give books as gifts? To everyone? Or only to select people? How do you feel about receiving books as gifts?

I have given books as gifts, but I don't do it very often. Sometimes even the most similar of friends, have the most disparate tastes in reading material. Don't get me wrong, I love talking about books I love. I just have to realize that not everybody I know who reads, would read or like what I read. So I guess my answer to the first 3 questions are "sometimes", "no", and "yes".

Continue...As for being on the receiving end, that's kinda hard to say. I have a friend who keeps recommending Laurell Hamilton's books. I've read a few, and don't really care for them. So I'd probably cringe if she came up with a Laurell Hamilton gift... Then there's the friend who got me Douglas Adams' The Ultimate Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Even though I don't usually read sci-fi, this one was funny. So I guess I'm a complete crapshoot at the receiving end. A gift card would probably be better in this case. With a "suggested reading material" list. =)

Brenda Janowitz has her first GCC (Girlfriends Cyber Circuit) interview & giveaway here. In the spotlight is Melissa Clark, and the giveaway is her debut novel - Swimming Upstream, Slowly. Go check it out and enter the giveaway!

Ok, here's another challenge I'm signing up for. I didn't earlier, because with 2009 being my first year for challenges, I didn't want to get overwhelmed. However, if I keep picking up batches of 6-10 books every time I head over to the library, I might as well participate in J.Kaye's challenge, since she's putting in the time to host it. =)

Challenge rules:

There are 3 sizes of challenges. Pick one and get going. The options are to read 12, 25, or 50 books from your local library.

You can join anytime as long as you don't start reading your books prior to 2009.

This challenge is for 2009 only. The last day to have all your books read is Dec. 31, 2009.

Do you get to read as much as you want to read? (I'm guessing #1 is an easy question for everyone?)

If you had (magically) more time to read - what would you read? Something educational? Classic? Comfort reading? Escapism? Magazines?

Hmm... #1 is an easy question - I never get to read as much as I want to... But that's life, right? Especially when you have a family, kid(s), work, etc. I guess I could say, I read as much as I can, with the life I have. And while it isn't as much as I want, it's good enough for me.

More time to read? Honestly I probably wouldn't know what to do with it right now. I'm pretty good at sneaking time to read, and I read fast. Give me a few hours or so & I'll have a book read & done (I've been known to take a few hours off work & head to a comfy chair at Barnes and Noble, and just check out books). Give me more, and that just means I have to take more trips to the library, because I'd feel bad about spending even more than I already do on books. But I wouldn't mind more time, for example, when all of my favorite authors come out with new books. It's so HARD to pick which book to read first! =)

A friend of mine works at a bookstore, which had their Employee Appreciation party recently. Knowing my love of reading, she invited me to come and partake of her employee discount during this event.

So, here's the haul, which I'm hoping to save for the '09 reading challenges. Hey, a girl can hope, right? Some of these are recommendations from my friend (#1, 8, 9), some are books I've read but didn't own (#4, 7), some are a continuation of a storyline (#4, 5, 10), some I just picked up on a whim.

The Man with the Golden Torc, by Simon R. Green

Playing for Pizza, by John Grisham

Magic to the Bone, by Devon Monk

Shakespeare's Christmas, by Charlaine Harris. This is for my collection, I couldn't find it anywhere before.

One Foot in the Grave, by Jeaniene Frost

Dixieland Sushi, by Cara Lockwood

Peony in Love, by Lisa See

Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld

Darkfever, by Karen Marie Moning

The Riven Kingdom, by Karen Miller (Godspeaker Trilogy Book 2)

Continue...What might help me "hide" these till '09, is the pile I just picked up from the library on Sunday:

The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes (the first 5 are by Jennifer Crusie)

Crazy for You

Anyone But You

Welcome to Temptation

Fast Women

A Mercy, by Toni Morrison

Magic and the Modern Girl, by Mindy Klasky

I don't know, though. I've already gone through 3 (#2, 3, 4), and am working my way through #5 and #1 (which is my read-while-in-the-school-pickup-line). Maybe if I actually review them, I'll take longer to inhale?

I first found this at Reading Adventures, thanks Marg! Angela at Nice Mommy, Evil Editor is giving away TWO Amazon Kindles, one each in two separate contests. In addition, she's giving away all kinds of other goodies, too. Go here to check out all of her holiday giveaways.

The Kindle drawings are kind of a treasure hunt on author websites. It's fun, but will take a while to hunt your way through all of them. Go here for the first Kindle drawing, and here for the second. A couple notes of caution before you proceed - make sure you have enough time set aside to hunt with, and make sure impressionable ones are not present and looking over your shoulder... Some of the book covers are very, er, steamy...

Since the Kindle is on my "I want" list, I spent the time to go hunting around. Wish me luck! =)